120 foreign suspects remanded without visas

By Bhagya Silva

Colombo, April 6 (Daily Mirror) - The Officer in charge of the Welikada Police today informed the Colombo Additional Magistrate Nuwan Kaushalya that there is a suspicion whether the 120 foreign nationals who were arrested for allegedly engaging in illegal financial fraud while residing in the country without valid visas are also connected to the incident involving the misappropriation of USD 2.5 million from the Treasury by hackers.

Producing the 120 foreign nationals, who were arrested on suspicion of engaging in illegal financial fraud while residing in the country without valid visas, before court via Skype technology, the Officer-in-Charge made these submissions while presenting further investigation facts in the case.

Presenting facts before court today, the Officer-in-Charge of the Welikada Police stated as follows,

The 120 foreign nationals who were arrested on suspicion of engaging in illegal financial fraud while residing in the country without valid visas were produced before court on the previous day and remanded. Today, a ‘B’ report containing the names of the suspects and a further investigation report are being submitted.

These 120 suspects were arrested while staying inside a large seven-storey housing complex located in the Rajagiriya area. Based on information received from Welikada intelligence officers and nearby civilians, officers obtained a search warrant from court and proceeded to inspect the suspicious location.

Upon inspection, it was revealed that there were 89 foreign male nationals and around 30 foreign female nationals and that a large number of computers in the premises had been interconnected, the Police Inspector stated. As it was a large apartment complex consisting of 49 housing units and since there was a special security officer assigned for its security, a list of names had been provided to him with instructions not to allow entry to anyone whose name was not on that list, investigations revealed.

Prior to obtaining the search warrant in relation to this incident, the relevant Grama Niladhari had been informed, as that officer too had been denied entry by the security officer, Welikada Police obtained a search warrant and carried out the raid accordingly.

Among the arrested foreign nationals were 92 individuals from China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines and Cambodia. There were also 28 individuals without valid passports and therefore their nationalities have not yet been confirmed.

At the time the raid was carried out, foreign nationals on the fifth floor had behaved in a disorderly manner and had fled with their mobile phones and computers, it was further revealed.

It was also revealed that for the foreign nationals staying on each floor of the apartment complex, separate employees had been assigned floor-wise for the provision of food and other services, and those employees were not allowed to go to other floors. Additionally, a separate catering group had been bringing food for them.

Statements recorded from the security officer of the apartment complex and other employees revealed that this group of nationals were not engaged in employment at any institution. It was also stated that separate vehicles would arrive as required for their transportation.

The Officer-in-Charge of the Welikada Police further stated that there is a suspicion that these foreign nationals had engaged in illegal financial fraud, as well as possible human trafficking activities. Further, there is also suspicion as to whether these suspects are connected to the incident involving the misappropriation of USD 2.5 million from the Treasury by hackers. He further stated that such incidents pose a threat to national security and therefore requested that the suspects be remanded to facilitate investigations.

Counsels appearing on behalf of the suspects stated that the Police had not presented proper evidence to support the allegations against the suspects. Counsel submitted that there is no indication from the investigations conducted so far that any offence has been committed. It was further stated that the ‘B’ report does not refer to offences by the suspects but rather relates to the ownership and standards of the apartment complex. Counsel argued that investigations should focus on specific criminal allegations, and added that multiple allegations are being made at once, including human trafficking, and that at the next hearing it may even be alleged that offences under the Prevention of Terrorism Act had been committed.

Accordingly, the counsels made submissions seeking bail.

Considering all facts, the Magistrate stated that as several suspects do not possess passports, there is a risk of them absconding court, and therefore the request for bail is rejected.

In terms of Section 124 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Magistrate granted permission for investigations to be carried out in relation to the apartment complex and the computers therein by the Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Municipal Council Director, the International Division of the Criminal Investigation Department and the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission.

The court further ordered that investigations be conducted regarding the duration of the suspects’ visas and the nature of those visas, and to report progress expeditiously.

All suspects were ordered to be remanded till May 15.